Feeding My New BP

Arnie ate his first mouse last Thursday night. He looks as though he has digested it nicely. I am wondering if I should feed him again this Thursday or wait a bit longer.
He is about 5 months old and is 16 inches. He likes to get out of his cage daily to be handled and move about. I do not want to over feed him, but I also do not want to under feed either. Can balls of this age eat every 7 days?

Yes, young BP can be feed once every 7 days. But once he get around a year old I would start feeding him about once every 10 days. Are you currently feeding him mice? If so, I would switch to the approiate sized rat as soon as possible. It is easier to do the switch while they are young rather than when they get older. Hope that this helps.

Yes that is helpful info. He has been eating mice. He ate his first live one last week. Prior to that he ate frozen-thawed.

Yup I feed all my BPs once a week for me its every sunday and both do fine with it. I dont know the exact digestive cycle of a ball python. But once a week feeding is a good rule of thumb.

I'm a little confused. You said in the top post that he ate his first mouse...then in your next post, you mention that it was his first "live" mouse and he was eating f/t before that. I've never heard of anyone switching FROM f/t TO live. Or did he go through a fasting period and only came out of it with a live mouse? Some clarification would help us give better advice.

But as has already been said...every seven days is a fine schedule for a young bp.

I feed Amber every 5 or 6 days. I don't know if she has a super metabolism or whatever, but there isn't even a lump the day after she eats. But yeah, realistically I'd say I use a 5-7 day cycle; Amber usually is out ALL night on the 5th or 6th day after she eats, so I kind of leave it up to her as to when she gets to feed.

The breeder had been feeding him frozen - thawed mice since he has quite a few snakes, he found this to work best. When I got Arnie he did not accept the first frozen - thawed mouse I offered him a week after I got him. I decided to try a live one and he ate it. That was a week ago tomorrow. Of course I now know not to leave the mouse in with him un attended just in case the mouse was to go on the offensive and bite him, but last week I did leave them together in a big plastic tub for a few hours and he ate the mouse while in there. Tomorrow night I will put the tub in the livingroom and keep a close eye while watching tv. I do not want to feed him in his cage so I will do it this way.

Why not just feed him frozen/thawed as the breeder had already started him on this good habit for you?

Just picture me standing behind Marla and nodding over her shoulder as she asks her question. :) So many people agonize over trying to get their live feeders over to frozen/thawed. Why mess with a good thing?

He did not eat the first frozen-thawed mouse I presented to him. I ended up tossing it because he didn't eat it. This may sound weird but should I have re-frozen it? That is why I went to live, because he didn't eat the first frozen-thawed mouse and I wasted it.
Comments Please as I hope he eats tomorrow's frozen thawed mousicle.

Some people will re-freeze, and you can do that --once-- if it's only been out and warmed for an hour or two. Beyond that, toss it. It might be a good idea to ask the breeder which method s/he uses for warming the mice and then replicate that method as closely as possible, if the breeder is reachable. If not, just try to make sure you have a nice, slightly warm, dry, stinky mouse and it might take a feeding or two to get him to eat for you, but he almost definitely will. Just remember that skipping a meal for your snake is like skipping a meal for you, not like skipping that many days' worth of meals.

Just be patient. Offer the thawed mousie in the same manner that you offered the live one. Leave him alone with it (when they're dead, that is safe to do...much easier with shy eaters!). If he refuses it, just try again next week with another thawed critter. Patience is the key when dealing with balls. Just wait 'til he goes on his first long-term fast... :roll: ....a fasting snake is a true lesson in Patience!

Arnie ate a nice frozen thawed mouse last night. I placed him in the large tub where I have been feeding him, then presented the mouse with a pair of tongs, as soon as I wiggled the mouse near him, bang he scooped it up and began to strangle it. I was surprised how fast he swallowed it.
It seems he will accept either live or frozen-thawed mice.

I'd stick with the f/t!! :D

I feed F/T (and am a BIG BIG fan) - it took my little BP two tries to get him to take the F/T but now that's all he eats. I feed every Tuesday night (every 7 days) as my little guy is only a year old.

Good for Arnie! Sometimes they just don't want to eat, and it doesn't mean you have to change the type of food. Glad to hear he's back on f/t, though. :)